Shoulder pad



Dec. 30,' 1947, PERLMUTTER SHOULDER PAD Filed April 14, 1947 PatentedDec. 30, 1947 "UNITED STATES cargar orties SHOULDER PAD IrvingPerlmutter, Bronx, N. Y.

Application April 14, 1947, Serial No. 741,284

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in pads especially of thetype used in the shoulder portions of garments.

Nearly all of the millions of shoulder pads yearly produced consist of acotton-Wadding ller, covered with a matching rayon or rayon-cottonmaterial. These pads have all the great disadvantage, that they have tobe removed before washing or cleaning the garment and aterwards have tobe sewed in again, because the cushioning material of the ller changesits shape and cushioning quality when it is soaked by water, cleaningfluid, or the like. The removing and replacing of shoulder pads for eachwashing or cleaning of a garment increases considerably the cost and thetime necessary for washing or cleaning. Moreover, the presently usedshoulder pads usually do not fit precisely the shape of the shoulder ofan individual wearing a garment, or if they are made to t more or lesswell, their manufacture requires a considerable amount of skill andtime, thus increasing the price of shoulder pads unreasonably.

Therefore, one object of the present invention is the provision of ashoulder pad of the character -described which is hollow and does notnecessarily have to be provided with a cushioning ller, so that theshoulder pad can be left on the garment during the Washing ordry-cleaning process.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a shoulderpad of the character described which can be made, without an increase inmanufacturing cost, in such a manner that it will lit precisely into theshoulder portion of a garment or to the anatomical shape of anindividual wearer of a garment, and which never will change its shape orlose its original form due to long time wearing or cleaning or the like.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a deviceof the character described which can be made entirely of plasticmaterial or of any other material, which is particularly Well adaptedfor mass production processes, but which in specific cases can beprovided with a soft envelope and/or with soft iiller for instance if itis used in connection with very thin material for ladies or childrensWear or the like.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of adevice of the character described which is light in weight, simple inconstruction, resilient, inexpensive to manufacture, but sturdy anddurable and well adapted to Withstand the rough usage to which devicesof this type are frequently subjected.

Yet a still further object of the present invention is the provision ofa device of the character described which is particularly well adaptedto be shaped into a concavo-convex Iforrnthus constructing an entirelynew type of shoulder pad which is substantially cup-shaped, encompassingthe shoulder like a shell and which I call a drop shoulder pad or a cupshoulder pad.

Furthermore, another object of the present invention is the provision ofa device of the character described which consists of a resilient framework which can be contained in one or several envelopes, so that byincreasing or decreasing the number of envelopes the size of theshoulder pad can be altered Without the necessity of manufacturing alarge number of frames of different sizes. In this way the number offrames to be manufactured or to be kept in stock by a tailor or the likecan be reduced to a minimum.

With the foregoing and other objects vin View which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed,

In the accompanying drawings the preferred forms of the invention havebeen shown.

In said drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a side View of the same;

Figure 3 is a front View;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a frame member;

Figure 5 is a fractional side View of the frame of Figure 4 showing adetail;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a modication of the frame; and

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view on the line 'l-'l of Figure 6..

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring rst to Figures 1 to 3, the numeral l denotes a completeshoulder pad made in accordance with my invention. The main feature ofmy new and improved device is a thin resilient rod 2 which is shaped asa V having outwardly curved side portions, and a sickle-shaped resilientthin rod '3 whose pointed extremities are secured to the extremities ofthe V-shaped rod so as to form therewith a concavo-convex Wedge-shapedtriangular frame which is adapted for being attached to a garment inplace of a shoulder pad. The rods 2 and 3 can be made of Wood, plasticmaterial, aluminum, steel wire or of any other suitable material andthey can be made as a unit or connected to one another by means ofsoldering, gluing, welding or the like. In many cases this frame alonecan be attached to the shoulder portion of a garment, particularly ifthe garment is made of heavy material. In other cases an envelope 4 canbe provided for, which ts tightly around the frame. This envelope 4 canbe made of cloth, silk, plastic material or the like, and it can beprovided with perforations 5. The size of the shoulder pad I can beincreased by encompassing the frame into several envelopes 4 (pluralityof envelopes not shown), so that the number of frames to be manufacturedor to be kept in stock by a tailor or the like can be reduced to aminimum.

Instead of an envelope 4 there can be provided thin walls of plasticmaterial which ll the space between the rods 2 and 3 or only one suchwall can be provided for, which fills the space between the archportions of the rod 3. Said thin wall or walls can be made as a unitwith the parts 2 or 3, particularly if said walls and the parts 2 and 3consist of plastic material, or the wall or walls can be secured to therods 2 or 3 by any suitable means. Y

.A slight modification is shown in Figures 4 and 5, where it will beseen that the V-shaped rod I of the frame 3 has its end portionspivotably connected to the sickle-shaped rod 8.

This pivot connection can be made in the form of any suitable hingingmeans, or a pivot pin II can be extended through the extremities of therod I and the pointed end portions of the rod 8.

The modication of Figures 6 and '7 relates to the aforementioned newtype of shoulder pad which is substantially cup-shaped, encompassing theshoulder like a shell and which I call a drop shoulder pad or a cupshoulder pad. In this case the frame I consists of a sickle-shapedresilient thinrod I5, of a triangle II whose sides preferably are curvedoutwardly consisting of thin resilient rods and having two of said rodssecured to the pointed extremities of said sickleshaped rod in such amanner that thelatter is rightangularly disposed to the triangle and inspaced relation to the third rod of said triangle, and three thinresilient frame members E2, I3, and IA which are at one extremity joinedto each other as well as to the juncture of the two first mentioned rodsof the triangle II. The frame members I2, I3 and III diverge from saidjuncture and are secured to and angularly disposed to said sickle-shapedrod as well as to the third rod of said triangle II. The frame member I3is slightly larger than the frame members I2 and I4, each of said threeframe members running from said juncture upwardly to the upper archportion of said sickle-shaped rod I5, then down to the front rod of thetriangle I I, then up to the lower arch portion of rod I5, and finallydownwardly and back to the aforementioned juncture. While only threeframe members I2, I3 and I4 are shown in the present instance, it willbe obvious that more than three, or fewer, frame members can be used foreach shoulder pad. As indicated by dash-and-dotted lines in Figure 7,the frame III can also be contained in one or more envelopes in themanner explained in connection with the envelope 4 of Figures 1 to 3, ora thin wall can be provided between the frame members I2, I3 Yand I4 andthe rods of the triangle II.

A soft ller of fibrous material as used in ordinary shoulder pads isnormally not necessary in the case of my new and improved shoulder pad,particularly not in the case of the modification of Figures 6 and '7.However, if this device is used in connection with very thin materialfor ladies or childrens wear or the like, such a soft ller can beinserted between the parts of the frame or into the envelope 4. In anyof the modifications shown, the frame can be made tot precisely thegarment or the shoulder of the individual wearer, and a higher precisioncan be attained in making such frames than in making the ordinary waddedpads. Moreover, the frame or the insert for shoulder pads will retainits original shape and-form irrespective of long time use and/orcleaning, laundering, or pressing of the garment.

Since Acertain changes may be made in the above article and dilerentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as amatter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a sickle-shapedresilient thin rod, a triangle having outwardly curved sides consistingof thin resilient rods and having two of said rods secured to thepointed extremities of said sickle-shaped rod in such a manner that thelatter is rightangularly disposed to the triangle and in spaced relationto the third rod of said triangle, and three thin resilient framemembers being at one extremity joined to each other as well as to thejuncture of the two rst mentioned rods of said triangle whence theydiverge and being secured to and angularly disposed to saidsickle-shaped rod as well as to the third rod of said triangle, each ofsaid three frame members running from said juncture upwardly to theupper arch portion of said sickle-shaped rod, then down to said thirdtriangle rod, then up to the lower arch portion of said sickle shapedrod, and then down and back to said juncture, all substantially asdescribed.

2. A shoulder pad comprising a sickle-shaped resilient thin rod, atriangle having outwardly Vcurved sides consisting of thin resilientrods and having two of said rods secured to the pointed extremities ofsaid sickle-shaped rod in such a manner that the latter isrightangularly disposed to the triangle and in spaced relation to thethird triangle rod, three thin resilient frame members being at oneextremity joined to each other as well as to the juncture of the two rstmentioned rods of said triangle whence they diverge and being secured toand angularly disposed to said sickle-shaped rod as well as to the thirdrod of said triangle, a casing of soft material enclosing tightly saidtriangle and said frame members, and a ller of cushioning materialwithin said casing, each of said three frame members running from saidjuncture upwardly to the upper arch portion of said sickle-shaped rod,then down to said third triangle rod, then up to the lower arch portionof said sickle-shaped rod,l i

and then down and back to said juncture, al1 substantially as described.

3. A shoulder pad comprising a sickle-shaped resilient thin rod, atriangle having outwardly curved sides consisting of thin resilient rodsand having two of said rods secured to the pointed extremities of saidsickle-shaped rod in such a manner that the latter is rightangularlydisposed to the triangle and in spaced relation to the third trianglerod, three thin resilient frame members being atone extremity joined toeach other as well as to the juncture of the two rst mentioned rods ofsaid triangle whence they diverge and being secured to and angularlydisposed to said sickle-shaped rod as well as to the third rod of saidtriangle, a casing of soft material enclosing tightly said triangle andsaid frame members, and a filler of cushioning material within saidcasing, each of said three frame members running from said junctureupwardly to the upper arch portion of said sickle-shaped rod, then downto said third triangle rod, then up to the lower arch portion of saidsickle-shaped rod, and then down and back to said juncture, allsubstantially as described.

4. A shoulder pad comprising a sickle-shaped resilient thin rod, atriangle having outwardly curved sides consisting of thin resilient rodsand having two of said rods secured to the pointed eX- tremities of saidsickle-shaped rod in such a manner that the latter is rightangularlydisposed to the triangle and in spaced relation to the third trianglerod, three thin resilient frame members being at one extremity joined toeach other as well as to the juncture of the two rst mentioned rods ofsaid triangle whence they diverge and being secured to and angularlydisposed to said sickle-shaped rod as well as to the third rod of saidtriangle, and thin resilient walls being provided between said framemembers and said triangle rods so as to ll the space between said framemembers and said triangle, each of said three frame members running fromsaid juncture upwardly to the upper arch portion of said sickle-shapedrod, then down to said third tri angle rod, then up to the lower archportion of said sickle-shaped rod, and then down and back to saidjuncture, all substantially as described. IRVING PERLMUTTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 145,661 Kyser Dec. 16, 1873207,211 Scheu Aug. 20, 1878 389,637 Byers Sept. 18, 1888 2,422,161 ZacksJune 10, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 363,182 Great BritainDec. 17, 1931

